CynaraJane

I DO rawk!

2007-12-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

I said I was canceling Christmas on my Xanga site. It's just too bad no one else got the message. My week has been filled with transporting various children to Christmas parties and shopping. Best laid plans, huh?

Today young son Jaden left to spend the weekend with his father. Yesterday the shopping I did consisted of getting him some new clothes (gosh, he's really having a growth spurt!) and some pajamas.

Pajamas aren't necessarily something Jaden cares about. As a matter of fact, he has for years refused to wear pajamas, preferring instead to sleep in his boxer shorts. However, his older half-sister (his father's eldest) made an issue of the fact that Jaden didn't have pajamas on the last few overnight visits Jaden had with his dad. So, always being one to appease *roll eyes* I decided I would get him pajamas. God forbid my mothering skills be called into question because I don't force my son (who has a built-in furnace that could heat a few homes in Antarctica very well, and typically will kick covers off even when it's cold and he's half nude) to wear pajamas.

I brought the young lad with me to pick them out. (Yeah, this is not a task for the faint of heart - try taking a kid to the department store at Christmas time and explaining that they can't have the toy without telling them they are getting it as a gift...*sigh*). We make it back to the boys section where they have the pj's. All of them, according to Jaden, were ugly or babyish. He was pretty much right. He is one cool little dude after all, not the type to wear Spiderman or the characters from the movie Cars all over his body, even if no one will see him wearing them except his father and his side of the family.

I decide the best alternative would be to get him some sweatpants and a long sleeved T-shirt. I find the sweatpants, and being a boy after my own heart he wants black ones. I head over to where the long sleeved T's are and as I'm looking through them one pops out at me as being the most perfect selection:

Hopefully it will be taken in the spirit in which it was meant. He loved it, and that's all that matters to me.

Do you think they'll even let him wear it?

I'm not so sure, but if they don't it ain't my fault.

Blogger Templates Site

2007-12-06T13:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it...I launched a Blogger site for Blogger Templates:

Click on the image above to visit and take a look, or just click here. I've been having too much fun making these. Now I have to get on some housework and laundry. Blah!

Back to Port

2007-12-05T02:34:00.000-05:00

I've been away awhile, heh. Actually I seem to post more (though not all that often) at my Xanga site. If you'd like to visit me there when you get a chance, that would be great (you do not need to be a Xanga member to comment my blog there...just FYI).

I've been making Themes for Xanga, and was asked by someone to do some Blogger Templates. I didn't really know how to put a Blogger Template together when I was asked, but I jumped right in and learned how to do it. Et voila! I made a new template for my site here.

It looks okay on my side, how does it look to you?

I may be putting the Blogger themes I make up for grabs in the coming days. I may also be doing some unique, customized Blogger Templates upon request. Stay tuned!

In other news, my eldest got her first tattoo a few days ago. I put together this video to commemorate the event:

Let Them Eat Cake

2007-08-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

It has been the week from hell. I've been busier than the proverbial one armed paper hanger.

In addition to my weekly routine I promised to make my niece a cake for her baby shower that she is having today. I told her she could pick any cake she wanted. She picked a cool design, and I got to work at the beginning of the week gathering my supplies and ingredients. I used to be a cake decorator for a time, until carpal tunnel made that difficult. Fortunately the cake I was going to do for her didn't require squeezing a pastry bag to decorate (which is what aggravated the carpal tunnel), though it did require a lot of kneading since it was covered in fondant.

To make a very long story short I ended up staying up all night decorating this cake and didn't get to sleep until after 6:00 A.M...if things hadn't happened during the week beyond my control I might have been better equipped to finish before then. I don't mind though...it was worth it when I saw the smile on my nieces face.

Here's a pic of the cake. I'm going to go take a nap!

P.S. - Yes, it's lopsided...it's supposed to be! It's a whimsical design, almost Dr. Seuss-like. There's a lot more to the supporting structure inside the cake than a normal layer cake. But, it was a fun project!

Yellowjacket Man

2007-08-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my son Jaden came running in the front door screaming in terror. "I've been stung!!" It was the first time he's been stung by anything in his almost 9 years of life.

"What was it?" I asked as I was making a poultice of baking soda and water to apply to his sting. He didn't know, and was in too much pain to care. All of a sudden, as we're in the kitchen attending to his sting he screams again, "OH NO! It stung me again, just now on my thumb!"

I saw the culprit, albeit briefly, as it flew away. It must've come in with him on his clothes. Poor little guy! By now he was really petrified that somehow it was going to get him again, or that they were following him ready to attack him out of nowhere like monster in a bad horror movie. He ran into my office and shut and locked the door, crying and screaming.

I stayed in the kitchen looking for the thing. I didn't even know exactly what I was looking for...was it a wasp? A bee? Perhaps the Africanized Honey Bees had finally made their way this far up North? I searched for a good ten minutes and I couldn't see it anywhere. Finally I looked down on the seat of the chair my son had been sitting in, and there it was - a yellow jacket! I picked it up with a pair of tweezers (it must have been tuckered out from all that stinging) and called my son out of the office to show him that I did indeed find it, and it wasn't going to hurt him anymore (especially after I flushed it down the toilet).

When my DH got home I told him what had happened. He was going to investigate further today outside in front where my son and his little friend had been playing when they were attacked (oh, yeah, his playmate got stung, too, but we didn't find that out until later). So, armed with tools to pry up the timbers around our flower beds, my DH pulled up the wood where we could see the yellow jackets entering and exiting. Sure enough, there was a nest about the size of a football. They are now all toast. Torching them seemed to take care of the problem.

To calm my son down yesterday my daughter and I told him that maybe, like Spiderman, his stings will turn him into a "Yellowjacket Man." At least it got him laughing, and took his mind off of the pain. If he starts buzzing and turning aggressive I'll really start to worry.

Selfish? Maladjusted?

2007-08-15T23:42:00.000-04:00

An interesting piece about myths will be aired on 20/20 on Friday. Part of it deals with "only children." The ABC 20/20 website says:

Challenging Conventional Wisdom
20/20 Takes on a New Top 10 List of Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity

Spoiled, selfish, bratty and bossy are terms often used to describe only children, which suggests that being an only child is undesirable. Is there a grain of truth to the stereotype?

The myth of the only child dates back to the late 1800s when G. Stanley Hall, known as the founder of child psychology, called being an only child "a disease in itself."

Susan Newman, a Rutgers social psychologist and author of "Parenting an Only Child," says this myth has been perpetuated ever since. "People articulate that only children are spoiled, they're aggressive, they're bossy, they're lonely, they're maladjusted." What do so-called "onlies" think about the myth? Their answers may surprise you.

I was an only child for many years. It wasn't until I was a young teenager that I was around my younger half-sisters (through no fault or doing of my own or theirs - the circumstances just didn't allow for that to happen before then). Having grown up as an "only" and then being "gifted" with my siblings was like having the best of both worlds, so either way I feel blessed. Was I spoiled? Maybe a little, but mostly I just felt loved, and that wasn't because of anything anyone bought for me. I've always been sort of a loner, but I don't think "lonely" would apply. Bossy? Heh heh...I'd like to think of that as a leadership quality. Maladjusted? That's up for debate, I guess. I don't think the answers will particularly surprise me, but I think I'll watch to find out what they have to say.

Find out all the answers Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. EDT.

Freedom Is Not Free

2007-08-13T12:06:00.000-04:00

Patriotic rap...it's awesome, take a look:

I recently took a trip to Washington D.C. Here are some photos I took while there.

BTW, I'm feeling much better. Must've been allergies. ;-)

Meh, great pfffftt

2007-08-11T17:27:00.000-04:00

I started getting a sore throat yesterday evening. This morning when I awoke it was a little worse. Now I have some chest congestion and a slight cough. A summer bug? Maybe...but more likely is my allergies are going wild as the pollen count in my area is at "High-Medium."

I've taken some Loratadine (OTC), and I am using my inhaler. I'll get better soon I'm sure, and if I don't I will be taking a visit to my doc to see what's up. I'll let you know. In the mean time, I'm going to take it as easy as I can. I may even take this opportunity to give myself a pedicure this evening while I'm lazing about, barring anything unforeseen!

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Road Rage vs. Asshole Affirmation

2007-08-09T15:57:00.000-04:00

It doesn't seem to matter how far (or not) I drive, there is always some other driver that does their level best to aggravate me with their lack of driving skills, manners, or their obliviousness to their surroundings and the vehicle they are driving.

I have been cut off, nearly sideswiped, tailgated, stuck behind "Sunday Drivers," flipped off for nothing, had a parking place taken from me as I was beginning to turn in with my signal on, and countless other things that are too numerous to mention. Now, I tend to not want to get into a confrontation with other drivers, so I typically will mutter things to myself in the car instead of yelling at them out the window, though there have been a few times I couldn't help myself. Usually I've said something as simple as, "Wow, that was a really asshole thing to do!" (like when I had my parking place stolen). No rage...I was just affirming what they must already know - - that they have reached the pinnacle of assholery.

Myself, I was always taught to be a courteous driver. I was also taught to be a defensive, rather than offensive, driver - - I am usually the one who will let another car merge in front of me when they have just realized that their lane is closed ahead, even if they had fair warning miles before, and I don't block intersections or exits onto a road. It is really just common courtesy, even though I never expect the favor to be returned (that's usually too much to hope for). And when another driver does something really stupid and/or dangerous I do not retaliate by acting in like manner...no need to jeopardize the safety of myself and passengers just because they ticked me off.

I have been trying, though, to tone myself down in the car when chastising other drivers for their offenses, even when I don't have anyone in the car with me. I try to just think it to myself without vocalizing. It's for my own well-being...why get the blood pressure up, ya know?

I have just returned from taking my eldest daughter on an errand a couple of blocks from our home. Nothing too major happened while we were out, but there was this one driver we were behind who had their left turn signal on while turning right. I simply said, not really realizing I was speaking audibly, "It's people like that who should just spontaneously combust," which was met with uproarious laughter from my daughter. "Wow mom! That's too funny! I'm going to make an icon that says that for my MySpace!"

I'm off in a minute to take her to her college class this evening. Must remember to keep my eyes open and my mouth shut or I will forever be immortalized on her MySpace page. I think I'd rather be famous for other more noble things. *Grabs Duct Tape, Tapes Mouth* See you soon...hopefully without giving myself apoplexy. ;-)

The Sacrificial Ice Cube

2007-08-08T13:33:00.000-04:00

Good God, it's hot here! The heat index is predicted to top out around 107F today. The "dog days" of summer are bearing down upon us. I always seem to have an ice cold glass of Diet Pepsi in hand, whether it's hot outside or not - but especially now that it's sweltering.

I've noticed for a while when I get ice out of the freezer from the ice maker bin that at least one ice cube "jumps" from the bin onto the floor. It never fails. It's almost as if the cubes have a mind of their own. Maybe they conference while the freezer door is closed, "Okay, now when she comes to grab a few of us next time to put in her glass, who will be the volunteer to make a break for it?" It doesn't matter how careful I am, either - there's always one, the sacrificial ice cube, that falls to the floor. I don't get it - if it doesn't end up in my glass it winds up in the sink anyway. What's their point? Maybe they just want to see me bend over when I pick it up? That must be it. I have perverted ice cubes.